Allegory and Symbolism in Freemasonry – A little inkling

One of the first things that we are taught in Freemasonry  is that it is “a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols”. One can therefore only understand the real meaning of Freemasonry by investigating its allegorical meaning.

A most obvious example of an allegory in Freemasonry is the question of “Age” made to the candidate by the Worshipful Master with the following words:  “Are you a free man of the full age of twenty-one?”. To which the candidate  is prompted  by the Junior Deacon  to reply: “I am”.

In Hebrew language  “I am” translates “Eheieh” , which according to the numeration of the Hebrew letters of the alphabet , adds up to twenty one.

Such method of interpretation can be applied  not just to the Masonic Rituals – Craft , Royal Arch, MM etc –  but also to the Sacred Scriptures.  It is a method that computes the numerical value of words  based on their constituent letter. This method  is called  Gematria or Geometria and is used in the Kabbalah.

WHAT IS THE KABBALAH

The Kabbalah is described as  an esoteric theosophy based on the Hebrew Scriptures and the mysterious doctrine  even influenced Freemasonry in the XVII century.

In Hebrew the meaning of the word Kabbalah is “to receive”. There is a curious myth  that claims God himself taught this doctrine  to a selected company of angels who , after the fall of man, communicated it to men so that they could learn how to return to the original state of happiness and communion with God.   The great prophets Noah, Abraham and Moses  received  it and passed it on to their successors, among who was of course King Salomon.

The contents of the Kabbalah are believed to have derived  from a mixture of ancient superior cultures like  the Greek, the Egyptian and the Oriental. Even the Christianity adopted it , initially believing that it was  Hebrew  rather than Pagan.

The Kabbalah has  three distinct  facets. It can be  :

• “theoretical”  when it teaches man about God;
• “enigmatical”  when it is  based on the interpretation of the arrangements of  words and letters in the Bible ;
• “practical” when it professes to cure disease in man by interpreting  the arrangement of words and letters.

For the Kabala every word can be reduced to a numerical value and be explained by means of another word of the same value.

A  LOOK AT GEMATRIA

Gematria , or Geometria  in Greek language,  is a kabbalistic practice , essentially it is the Hebrew science of Numerology  used mainly as a method for interpreting biblical texts.  In Gematria each Hebrew letter represents a number.

 Through those numbers one can calculate the numerical value of a word and by computing that value with  one or more other words,  a connection is established that can  prove larger conceptual conclusions. One example of Gematria can be found  in the interpretation of Genesis 14:14.

The verse  mentions that to defeat the armies that had recently attacked his brother Lot, Abram (later in Genesis, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham), sent to fight  the 318 men that made up his  household. The numerical equivalent of Abram’s trusted household steward ‘s name “Eliezer” is 318; therefore, the text can also suggest that  it was not an army of 318 that  accompanied  Abram, but only Eliezer. To prove that there can be  more than one interpretation revealed by Gematria and the Kabala by the computation of words-values, let us consider the numerical value of the word “siach” which in Hebrew means “speaking” or “conversing”. It  matches that of  “Eliezer” and so it is now possible to argue that the interpretation of the Genesis 14:14 may also be that Abram  defeated his enemies on his own just by speaking to them in the name of God !

In the Hebrew language  the word “God”  translates “Elohim”  and Gematria  returns for it a word- value of 86 which is also that  of the word  “Nature” , thus concluding that the divine presence manifests itself also in the physical world.

And finally,  did you know that the term GOD  is  composed with the  first letter of three Hebrew  words : Gomer, Oz and Dabar ?

Gomer means Beauty; Oz means Strength; Dabar means Wisdom …… the Three Pillars of Freemasonry !

Gematria  gives  the word GOD a value of 810  which is also the result of the enumeration of : God+is+you = 810 and  The+Holy+digit = 810

Throughout history, some people have believed that the Bible contains secrets that can be revealed by Gematria and used it to predict historical events. This belief continues to this day and it has been made famous by Michael Drosni’s best-selling book The Bible Code, published in 1997.  At page 85 , the  book  recounts  the  poisonous gas attack that occurred in Tokyo  on 20 March 1995  by a lunatic religious cult  called  Aum Shinrikyo. Twelve people were killed and  more than 5000 injured  when the  nerve gas Sarin was released in the subway  trains of the morning Tokyo rush hour.      The book’s author claims that  the name of the Cult’s leader was encoded in the Bible together with :  “Tokyo”, “Japan”  and “ subway”. Even the word “plague” is mentioned  therein and indeed less than a year later,  we had in South Africa the outbreak of the  haemorragic fever  Ebola.

SOME MORE ALLEGORIES

We opened this paper by explaining that the Kabbalists recognise that “I am” translates “Eheieh”  in Hebrew . “Eheieh”  is also  the divine name associated with  the first of the Holy Sephiroth[1] and it is also how God described himself – “Eheieh asher Egeieh” , “I am what I am” –  to Moses when he appeared to him in the midst of the burning bush[2].

In Gematria,  “Eheieh asher Eheieh” enumerates to 5 4 3.  If you have been  paying  attention to the regalia your Past Master wears,  you will have noticed that  the   jewel  is  a representation of Euclid’s 47^th proposition , otherwise known as  Pythagoras’s Theorem whose postulation is proved  by the ratio  3-4-5  or  5-4-3.  ”I am what I am” !

Have you noticed the  letter “G” that in some Lodges hangs from the ceiling centre and others  is depicted in the East  above the master’s pedestal ?

AllegorThe letter “G” can signify Geometry, which is the root and foundation of all Sciences.  “G”  has also  a symbolic meaning of God as synonymous with Geometry and  it  may also  stand    for the “Great” or” Grand” Architect of  the Universe . In the words of our Brother W.L. Wilmhurst [3]:

“When the Lodge is opened , the mind and heart of every Brother composing it, should be deemed  opened to the “G” and all that it implies and to the desire that  those implications may eventually realise themselves by becoming  facts  (…) and when the Lodge is closed, the memory of the symbol  “G”  and its implications should be the principal things to be retained and pondered over in the repository of  the heart”

— *** —

It is therefore entirely appropriate  that  the Masonic  “Charge after the Initiation” delivered to the EAF,  should state :   “As a Freemason  I would first recommend to your most serious  contemplation , the volume of the Sacred Law”.  It is only by contemplating the scripture with perseverance, that one will  find and recognise  symbolism.  It cannot  be  attained by simply memorising and  repeating to an esponential degree , the  words of the Masonic ritual.

But sadly there is a large number of Freemasons who never actually consider the presence of allegories in the ritual and in the VSL.

On the Continent of Europe the Entered Apprentice  has to wait a number of  years after his initiation  before being passed to the second degree. And during that time he  is expected to do Masonic research and write papers to be presented to his lodge and  in the Lodge. It is  only when his Brethren are convinced that he has attained a relevant and sufficient Masonic knowledge that he is  allowed progression to the next  degree.

If you were to ask an Entered Apprentice Freemason here to make research on symbolism, he would probably not even know where to start. By contrast , in France and in Italy there has always been an intellectual tradition. Philosophy is taught in secondary school there,  so there is a tendency to  recruit from  people who have such kind of interest and education. And if you go to France, you will discover that every bookshop  – whether in Paris or in any  provincial town – has  shelves stacked with  books and magazines  on Freemasonry written by Freemasons and covering the subject of  Masonic symbolism.

The philosopher Thomas Carlyle once wrote: “In a symbol there is concealment and yet revelation, silence and speech acting together. (…) infinite blending itself with the finite, to stand visible and, as it were, attainable there.”

So mote it be.

The author forbids any reproduction or publication of this article, in full or in part, without his explicit authorisation. 

[1] According to the Kabbalah  there are ten creative forces – the Holy Sephiroths – that intervene between God and our  world.  Through these powers God created and rules the universe, and it is by influencing them that humans cause God to send to Earth forces of compassion  or severe judgment .

[2] The burning bush is an object described by the Book of Exodus as being located on Mount Horeb. According to the narrative, the bush was on fire, but was not consumed by the flames, hence the name. In the biblical narrative, the burning bush is the location at which Moses was appointed by Yahweh (God) to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan.

[3] In the words of our distinguished Brother and author Robert Lomas , William Leslie  WIlmhurst was one of the greatest thinkers about Freemasonry in the last century. Born in Chichester in 1867, he died in London in 1929. He wrote the book “The meaning f Freemasonry” and within it he tried to explain the inexplicable.

Sources

D.M.Study Circle 2016 transactions

“The Holy Acronym and Gematria” by Bro. R. Johnson (from “The Midnight Freemasons” blog)

Wikipedia

The Blog universalfreemasonry